Читать книгу Borderland - Jennifer Seet - Страница 10

CHAPTER THREE

In the days that followed, Harry utilized every spare minute to care for Travis and to ready the house for Karen’s stay. When he talked with her, she had indicated that she would wind up some business affairs and then catch the next available flight to see her father; there had been no reluctance in her voice.

A self-satisfied smile crossed his face when he remembered the talks he had had with Travis over the last few weeks, urging him to ‘set things right with Karen’. At first Travis had been very resistant, roaming around the house in a foul mood, criticizing everything and everyone in his way. As the weeks wore on, Harry noticed him becoming more introspective, indicating inner turmoil, and his demeanor showed it.

Then, the surprising request to summon Karen! At this, he let out a sigh and said a silent prayer that Travis would hang around until his daughter arrived. He knew time was short.

* * * * *

A form, so small that the bed coverings enveloped all but a frail, wizened head, Travis shifted ever so slightly. Karen jerked awake and studied the fragile, old man who stirred in his sleep. Her Dad, how different he looked now! Gone was the powerful, towering man who made weaker people pale in comparison. In his place lay the still shape of human life, ebbing with each gasp of air. She knew his time was near. She wrapped her arms around her chest and without knowing she was doing it, she took long, deep breaths and tried to transpose them into his struggling frame. Her breaths came deeper and longer, calmer, until she no longer wished them into his body; they just became involuntary.

She thought about the last week and how their relationship had come to a new crossroads. Travis Morton was a stubborn man; that’s for sure! Since her mother’s death, Karen had felt the depth and magnitude of his control. She knew that he loved her, but at times felt almost like a business acquisition. For now, the person in the bed presented a totally different impression-dependent on her in every way, a shadow of his former self. She reached down to touch his hand. So cold! Helplessness enveloped the room, stemming from the feeling that there was nothing she could do to change this situation; it also came from the inevitable state of his body.

“Karen”, her father whispered. She bent over until her face could feel the faint exhalation of life seeping from his lips.

“Yes, Dad. What is it?”

His chest lifted with one final effort as he said one word, “sorry”, and then Travis Morton settled into the pillow and left this earth for a better place and time.

She laid her head down in her father’s lap and wept for all the remembrances, both happy and sad, and for the loss of her only remaining parent. She wept for the futility of the time the two of them spent estranged. Looking on in spirit, Travis lingered, making a promise to be there for her in death, knowing now how much he missed by not being there for her in life.